he
queen, for private reasons, declined to receive. It is a striking proof
of the discredit into which the royal family had fallen, since the old
king virtually ceased to reign, that parliament, in spite of its
anxiety about the succession, displayed an almost niggardly parsimony
when it was moved to increase the allowances of the princes about to
marry. No application was made on behalf of the Princess Elizabeth or
the Duke of Sussex, who was already married morganatically. The
additional grant of L6,000 a year asked on behalf of the Duke of
Cumberland was refused by a small majority, partly, no doubt, because
his anti-liberal opinions and untrustworthy character were no secret to
public men. L10,000 a year was asked for the Duke of Clarence, and
justified by Canning as less than he might fairly have claimed, but it
was reduced to L6,000 and declined by the duke as inadequate; he
afterwards married without a parliamentary grant. The provision of
L6,000 a year for the Dukes of Cambridge and Kent respectively was
stoutly opposed but ultimately carried. Of all George III.'s sons, the
Duke of Kent was perhaps the most respected. It has been truly said that
if the nation could have expressed its dearest wish, in the spirit of
prophecy, after the death of the Princess Charlotte, it would have been
that the issue of the Duke of Kent's marriage with Prince Leopold's
sister might succeed, as Queen Victoria, to the crown of her
grandfather.[67]

[Pageheading: _THE DEATH OF GEORGE III._]

On November 17, 1818, Queen Charlotte died, having filled her great and
most difficult position for nearly sixty years with sound judgment,
exemplary moral integrity, and a certain homely dignity. The Duke of
York succeeded her as guardian of the king's person. Little more than a
year later she was followed to the grave by the Duke of Kent, who died
on January 23, 1820, and by the king himself, who died on January 29, in
the eighty-second year of his age. He was not a great sovereign, but, as
a man, he was far superior to his two predecessors, and must ever stand
high, if not highest, in the gallery of our kings. His venerable figure,
though shrouded from view, was a chief mainstay of the monarchy. Narrow
as his views were, and obstinately as he adhered to them, he was not
incapable of changing them, and could show generosity towards enemies,
as he ever showed fidelity to friends. His reception of Franklin after
the American war, and of Fox af